New Roosevelts Open Office in Espada's Backyard

As promised, Bill Samuels’ New Roosevelt Initiative has opened a field office in the Bronx, as a base for its fight against Pedro Espada Jr.

NRI also announced the hiring of Yorman Nunez, a political organizer who had previously managed the campaign of Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter. Pilgrim-Hunter dropped a primary challenge to Espada last month–at the urging of Samuels and others–and the anti-Espada crowd has since rallied around Gustavo Rivera, a former aide to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

“We’re excited to have a seasoned Bronx field operative such as Yorman joining New Roosevelt’s efforts to defeat Espada and help elect a new generation of political reformers such as Gustavo Rivera,” Samuels said in a press release.

On Monday, some labor activists grumbled about what exactly NRI was doing with the $250,000 it had pledged to the anti-Espada effort. NRI responded by sending along a few of its mailers and touting the new field office as part of a “very aggressive push.”